With Tiger Woods out, timing is right for Anthony Kim

With two victories in a little more than two months tucked under his "AK" belt buckle, Anthony Kim would like to share a couple of thoughts.

First, he's happy to be heading to England for the British Open.

Second, he's happy to stand out while Tiger Woods is sitting out.

Kim, 23, is one of only four multiple winners on the PGA Tour this year (Woods, Phil Mickelson and Kenny Perry are the others) and he has used the period of Woods' absence because of knee problems for his own gain.

But having no Tiger is still troublesome, Kim said.

"I definitely think it's a huge loss for the PGA Tour," Kim said in a conference call. "He's been the face of our tour for a long time and he's done such a tremendous job in moving this tour forward.

"But at the same time for me personally, I think it's a great opportunity for me to make a name for myself and hopefully I can do that."

The Woods-Kim link is inescapable. Kim won the Wachovia when Woods was unable to defend his title because of his post-Masters knee surgery. Last weekend, Kim won the AT&T National, a tournament Woods hosts but didn't play because of his knee surgery after the U.S. Open.

Kim has also leaned on Mark O'Meara for advice, as did Woods when he was younger.

Born in Los Angeles and a graduate of La Quinta High School, Kim was a three-time All-American at Oklahoma, besides being the freshman player of the year in 2004.

He left Norman in 2006 after three years, turned pro and tied for second in his first event. Kim made $338,067 in just two tournaments, but really came on last year when he played 27 times, had four top 10s and earned $1.5 million.

Many thought he was still underachieving. His reputation as someone who didn't work hard enough was hard to shed, so Kim listened to O'Meara and turned himself around.

"I really believe that my game last year reflected how I was living," he said. "There were lots of double bogeys and triple bogeys last year, and there were quite a few birdies. But there was no point where I just made pars and birdies and just played solid golf.

"I felt like with the help of quite a few people, I turned my life around, put in some hard work, and making the right decisions off the course . . . led to my good play this year."

Kim played with O'Meara in last year's Merrill Lynch Shootout. Kim has also benefited from the wisdom of Adam Schriber, his swing coach for the last eight years.

The British Open at Royal Birkdale is Kim's first appearance at golf's oldest major championship.

He doesn't know what to expect, but Kim is certain of one thing. For everyone who says it's about time that someone pushed Woods, Kim isn't so sure that's what really is happening.

"He doesn't need anybody to push him. I think he puts as much pressure on himself as anybody can, and I think that's made him the player he is, and I feel the same way about my golf game.

"I don't think there's a critic or somebody that can make me feel a certain way. I put as much pressure on myself as anybody else. So for me, it's just to work as hard as I can and hopefully that will be good enough."

thomas.bonk@latimes.com